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| Get a Communion going, cast Quickness and here we go! Fanaticicism, Astral and Air combat spells, elemental summoning, protective wards, and whatever you think your opponent isn't prepared for. Massed Stellar Cascades are particularily effective, as there's really no defense other than being undead (but Demons are affected) -- and then you can unleash Communion backed Banishments -- or being magic.
If you get an Archtheurg with three air and give him some communicants he really rolls with thunder strikes and orb lightnings. Theurg Communicants have no magic skills but a built-in slave matrix (they start the battle with Communion Slave already cast). They are sacred but, curiously, you dont need a temple to build them. Communion slaves benefit from all the spells their masters cast on themselves. A Theurg who casts Communion Master and Air Shield or Astral Shield also affects all his communicants - just make sure that the fatigue doesn't overwhelm them (100=incapacitated, 200=additional fatigue goes to HP and could kill the communicant). But the protection spells do not affect the other masters, if any. Bear in mind that Communion is not just a fatigue distribution (suggestion : give the communion slaves reinvigoration items as well), but it also boosts the caster's spell levels. This could be very handy to cast spells that you couldn't otherwise cast. Relief (Nature spell, ench. 6) becomes a very nice spell, because Relief reduces fatigue of all friendlies, and communions distribute fatigue... Same for Summon Earth Power or Reinvigoration when cast by a Communion Master : all slaves get the reinvigoration. The Crystal Matrix is a very important magic item for Pythium : when, say, 8 communicants are present it instantly turns any mage +3 in their magic path on the battlefield... which is a very powerful tool and grants flexibility making all the spells available for the first round of battle. If you have some blood mages, like blood Sages or Garnet Amazons (or even your pretender), you can mix them with the astral communions, using the sabbath spells. NATIONAL HEROES * Batrolomeus the Patriarch, a sacred, level 5 priest with Air 2, Astral 3 and Water 2 : "is the highest ranking priest of the empire. Bartholomeus was trained as a Theurg in the Cathedral of the Spheres and after years of manipulating and assassinating his chief rivals, has he been elected by the Emerald Council to take the Holy Seat. Now he commands the vast powers of the theurg communion". * Marius Lorca "was born the son of a lowly peasant. He enlisted in the legions and gained the rank of centurion. When he single-handedly saved the Emperor from the daggers of a dozen assassins he was placed in the Emerald Guard. He became the first low-born Emerald Lord and served the emperor proudly until he was seduced by the empress. She had the emperor murdered and discarded Marius Lorca. As a result, he vowed to avoid the politics and machinations of the imperial court, and painted his armor black and joined the Pythian war machine. Marius is called the Black Emerald in the legion and has become a living legend". * Hierogallus "is an old Serpent Lord with gray temples and a balding head. He wears an ancient steel armor instead of a gilded one and prefers the company of his serpent to that of his fellow soldiers. Unsocial at best, he is still respected and commands great authority". Read : he still has a strong leadership (50). * The Master of the Games "is an old gladiator who has remained with the legion after freedom was granted him. He is almost unequaled in combat but is a rather poor leader". Gladiators under his direct command still resign after one battle. 6.7 R'LYEH R'lyeh was founded by strange, large aliens. They fell from the sky a long time ago and survived underwater. They enslaved a race of fishlike humanoids by sheer strength of mind. R'lyeh has two huge strategic advantages : it is an underwater nation (being able to strike anywhere against a foe who can't strike back) and is strong in Astral Magic (its best mages can Teleport and Gateway). Pre-researched spell: Mind Burn. DOMINION DESIGN: Income of sea provinces is not affected by cold or warm climates. If you do not intend to leave the oceans it might be a good idea to get yourself a hot or cold dominion, gaining up to 120 design points. Only 2 nations will accidentally benefit from a heat scale, and 4 nations from a cold scale (including Ermor, since most undeads are protected from cold but not from heat, some even radiate cold). So the decision depends on the game setup. Supply still depends on the heat/cold scale however, even underwater, so an extreme weather will limit your expansion if you rely on a horde of lobo guards. You could tolerate some turmoil too, knowing that tritons fly, and they are quite common underwater. All available fortifications can be built both on land and underwater. A Dark Citadel stays a Dark Citadel, but a Kelp Fortress is a Mausoleum on dry ground and a Kelp Citadel is a 35-admin castle. You can only train your national units under the sea (only local troops are available on dry ground) but you can build your militia either place, and your militia always features slave troopers and lobo guards. PREDESIGNED PRETENDER: CTHULU THE VOID LORD http://www.illwinter.com/gods/Ry%27leh.html
If you think of blood magic, remember that you can't hunt blood slaves underwater. UNITS
Area "friendly" blast damage is still possible, so you better keep unaffected mindless units (Lobo Guards, Shambler Thralls or undeads) on the front line. This gives an "ideal" order of battle : Lobo Guards/Thralls on the front line, a second line of Illithids (fire closest), followed by a third line of infantry with trident (hold and attack) ready to finish your opponent off. With this special blast attack and some mages casting a barrage of Mind Burn and Star Fires (and later Enslave Mind), you can have near casualty free battles.
MAGIC
The Starspawn mages are great army gaters (they can gate 95 lobo guards or shambler thralls + 10 non magic units), but R'lyeh astral income is limited, and it is not easy to find a water 2 Starspawn to forge Clams early to make up for it. If you fight the Atlantis War Lobsters, remember that etherealness works when trampled. Try using Starchilds "etherealizers" within your best troops on "hold and attack" orders. Add unbreakable fodder. A bunch of Starspawns in the rear also help with Soul Slay - a spell Rlyeh should get very early as a byproduct (Thaum. 5) of Gateway. PRIESTS R'lyeh can only train priests with 3 holy levels. They have one astral and one random pick however. Independent aquatic priests are uncommun (the Amber Clan tritons have some) and expensive. NATIONAL HEROES * Shadhul Ummush, the Traitor King (amphib mage with water 5) "is an ancient Atlantian King who foresaw the downfall of the Atlantian kingdom. R'lyeh would conquer and enslave the marine world regardless of his actions. Better to serve than die. Thus he chose to betray his brethren in exchange for a position of power in R'lyeh. Shadhul is now the most powerful water mage in R'lyeh". * Cthugul the Stargazer, a level 3 priest and a powerful mage (Astral 4, Water 1 and one random pick)"is one of the ancient Starspawns that survived the fall of the star. This horrible being led the construction of the incomprehensible city of R'lyeh. His knowledge of the stars let him foretell the conquest of Atlantis and he was the one who found out how weak-willed the Atlantians are. Cthugul is now in charge of the bonding of the Atlantians". * Auluudh, the Aboleth, "is an ancient member of an ancient race sprung from the depths of the ocean. Aboleths once ruled the deeps, but the falling star crushed their empire and allowed their slaves to free themselves and build kingdoms of their own. Now the aboleths are returning and Auluudh will lead the way. While waiting he has decided that the minds of the illithids are to his taste and they will be useful as food for the small aboleth population and as slavemasters over the weaker races. Auluudh is very powerful and he can enslave weaker beings by force of mind alone. He is also a powerful mage". He is a big (110 hp) aquatic monster, with Water 4 and Astral 4. He can lead or gate 135 magic beings. 6.8 ULM
Ulm only needs to stabilise dominion inside its own territory and can use priests to help, so it can get away with a dominion level of 3-5. Heavy units take a lot of resources, so productivity +3 is a must. For the same reason, you could take a castle with high administration % (to drain that amount of resources from all neighbours). But you could also take the cheapest of fortresses instead, since your defense does not lie in castles anyway : the lack of admin might hurt army-making early in the game but being able to make a watchtower in every other province you enter can be a boost in order to make as many Ulm units as possible. Especially those excellent spys, and smiths. Only the Guardian troops and Lord Guardian leaders are left out when you make a new castle. Mid to late game the number of forward castles to make troops in might be a big asset. So this decision really depends on your general strategy. Finally, a magic drain has little effect, since Dwarven Smiths studies are unaffected. Since you suck at magic, make everyone else suck too and put drain to maximum (and possibly put dominion to maximum too if you have a chance, to affect a larger area). And the drain will increase the magic resistance of your troops - something important since your troops have the worst MR of all nations. Every drain level gives +1/2 MR point (and +10% fatigue when mages cast battle spells). Predesigned Pretender: Le Comte de Saint-Germain http://www.illwinter.com/gods/Ulm.html The alchimist gets a x2 bonus when he makes gold out of gems. This bonus is added in to the Alchemist Stone bonus as a lump (the Stone brings +50% on the base price only), for a total +150% bonus: each earth gem is then converted into 25 gold pieces, and each fire gems into 37 GP). Special Strategy Simple : play like a tank commander. Build heavy troops and hit people with it. Early conquest, that is. As the game lasts and new spells are researched, Ulm's edge at grabbing territory becomes less and less sharp. So go for them asap. That's one of Ulm's adavantage - steel vs. magic, you have to learn the second while the first comes built in your troops. Steel doesn't work too well vs summoned troops, though, many of them being ethereal. But on the whole it remains the best thing to invest in. To the other hand, spells that negate armor (electrical shocks and acid attacks, plus some earth spells) or pierce armor (most fire attacks) are the worst of your enemies. You badly need to get lucky with independents to do well, since you really need some more mages to protect your soldiers with different "wards". Units:
Technically, some weapons are better than others against particular opponent types. Also, depending of your playing style, you will want either to have a weapon which makes more damages but gives less defence, or the reverse. It is somehow a personal issue here. To keep it simple, you could also mix them all. Flail: two weak attacks and a defense penalty. Meant to dispatch hordes of light infantry. Morning star: bonus against shield. If your opponent has shielded infantry use this one. Hammer and Maul : the maul makes more damage but you get a def penalty and no shield, the hammer makes slightly less damage but you can keep a tower shield. Pike: will ask a moral check from the opponent, use against low moral troops (Ctis infantry, barbarians, etc). They slow the enemy attack, so use them if you plan to have a front line holding while your crossbows fire. Ulm's Crossbowmen use Arbalests, which are slow and less accurate but shoot further and for more damage than crossbows. Arbalests are so strong they are capable of killing their own troops if you don¿t pay attention. So you'll probably buy long- or shortbowmen in some independent provinces instead. Local defense : Ulm has militia (crossbowmen) that is actually worth buying to 10 or so if you have the money. Magic:
Use Smiths for research, since they have the ability to tolerate the drain : they get a +2 research bonus minimum (so even in a +3 drain, they have 5 research points each - in a neutral or positive magic dominion they get the same bonus as all other mages). Keep in mind that all other mages, including your pretender, do not benefit from this drain immunity, however. Also useful to get mages for searching sites if you don't have a mage pretender. They get a 25% gems discount on forging magic items, so if possible consider equipping them with many items to increase their skills (for exemple, with a Dwarven Hammer, a Master Smith can forge for half price). Try to use them over the pretender, so you save those gems.
With "Summon Earthpower" they have several nice level 3 spells available, like "Legions of Steel" (Ulm start spell), or "Blade Wind" which decimates light troops (or even seasonal spirits - those have all zero protection) but does not penetrate Ulm's super thick armors. And there is no "ward" against earth spells. On the battlefield smiths are affected by drain scale while casting spells however (greater fatigue). Given a pair of Earth boots (or extra gems) Smiths can cast level 3 rituals too, like Summon Fall Bears, Contact Troll/Troll King's Court or Crusher Construction. The priests are weak too, and this is a major problem for Ulm (no sacred troops and so no target for the available "Blessing" and "Sermon of Courage" is only available to a priest prophet). Unfortunately for Ulm, native sites with better priests are uncommon. It could be a better idea to make a black knight your prophet anyway. A spy prophet could be a good idea too, to make effective use of stealth preaching NATIONAL HEROES # Barthulf, the best leadership of Ulm, "was dubbed a Black Knight at the age of thirteen. He appeared as a mystery knight at the great tourney of Black Keep and emerged victorious. After this deed he became known throughout the realm and soon men from near and far came to challenge him. Barthulf has never lost a challenge and is the pride of the Black Keep". # Hildegard "was the only child of the late Hochmeister of the Black Order. Her father taught her how to fight and wanted her to join the order, but she was a strong-willed young woman who didn't like the strict hierarchical organization of the order. She decided to become a freelance warrior, and as such she has become known and respected. During her more adventurous years Hildegard befriended a black unicorn that has followed her since". She is one of the fastest commander of the game, and her defense is so high that she is nearly intouchable in close combat. # Raterik, almost as fast as Hildegard but wearing a full plate armor, "is a strange and secretive knight. As a youth he befriended a black unicorn, and the magical steed has given the peasant boy the opportunity to join the Black Order. Several of the older members of the order complained about the peasant but so far he has not failed in his tasks. Raterik has proven himself a resourceful and able commander". 6.9 VANHEIM DOMINION DESIGN: The population of Vanheim prefers cold climate (cold +1). You could tolerate some turmoil too, thanks to the spell Call of the Wind (the summoned hawks fly and can effectively patrol). Sure you can't cast as soon as you take your first turn, but researching Conjuration 3 isn't that difficult. PREDESIGNED PRETENDER: WOTAN http://www.illwinter.com/gods/Vanheim.html The Allfather, like Vanirs, has the "illusion" ability (he is invisible on the strategic map even if he is not sneaking) and can sail. SPECIAL
* All Vanir leaders have the ability to sail across one open sea zone (even when leading non-vanir units), which is tremendously useful on some maps. Sometimes it is the strategic move that wins the battle. Not as good as gateway but it costs nothing and they have it at game start. Depending on the map it can have much the same effect as amphib you can hit your opponents, but they can't hit back at you except in the provinces you are currently invading. You can't retreat into a sea zone though, so all your landing army will be lost if they fail the assault. * All Vanir troops are sacred (they gain +3 strength, morale and attack when blessed, and their upkeep cost is halved). * All Vanir troops have the stealth ability; see Pangaea to read more about this ability. They can even sail across enemy sea zone and still stay hidden. * The Fay boars are immortal and can supply 20 troops each. Should they die in friendly dominion, they reappear in the home province (this "teleport" can cause some supply problems in your main army fighting far from its base, by the way). * Pre-researched spell: Phantasmal Warrior. UNITS
The Skinshifters regenerate but are expensive and fragile (prot 4). The werewolf form is better (+7 hp and morale, +2 for almost all other attributes). The Einheres turn berserk and have two close combat weapons. They can do serious damage, but often take more damage in return due to their lower defense (they have a chain mail but no shield). They are very useful vs. enemies that use large amount of weak units, or as flankers. Turning berserk gives them +3 strength, attack and protection (but -4 defense), which should make them capable of penetrating even heavy armor. The Vans are very expensive too but could be considered as good as Knights. They have a terrific defense (18 higher score in the game for ordinary units), and are very hard to hit in close combat, but defense is not applicable to ranged attack. The Valkyries are probably the most powerful normally recruitable flyer in the game. They are very nice for both strategic movement and attacking commanders, but too expensive to make good patrollers. Get some blessed Valkyries on commander attack duty, and some Einheres or Vans behind and flanking for heavily armored troops that the Hirdmen cannot hurt. Remember that Vans can hurl their javelins too. As for countering independent missile units, just make sure to have your troops that are closest to the right edge have good protection (15) and a shield, and your losses from normal bows is minimal. For AI or player missiles, make sure your expensive mages have Air Shield or similar - a lot of weapons will be aimed at your mages and commanders. Also note that Vanheim elite troops are very vulnerable to poison because of their low hit points. MAGIC
The Vanherse and Vanjarl are very flexible mage-priests. They can be used in battle both as support and summoners, to start your first bloodhunts, forge your fist rods, preach unnoticed if necessary, lead armies of sneaking elites in swift raids, sail through the oceans and be gone before retaliation... Vanjarls can Summon Lesser Air Elementals probably the most powerful elemental, since it is flying AND ethereal Storm, Thunder Ward, etc. But they have only a few low level paths, and although the Dwarven Smiths are good at Earth, they don't have a good secondary realm and only one random pick. The Dwarves are great battle wizards however: with Summon Earthpower and Summon Lesser Earth Elemental, every one of these guys can send forward 5 or 6 trampling big puppies in a battle before fatigue overcomes them. If you gain one Dwarf with +1 Earth level in his random pick this champion almost regenerates fatigue as fast as he suffers it. Download 5.74 Mb. Share with your friends:
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